


Phoebe's Pieces of Puzzleshipping

by Phoebeus



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Series
Genre: Dark Side of Dimensions Spoiler, M/M, Random Fluff, established relationships - Freeform, i will rot your teeth if i can, where tropes come to thrive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2018-10-13 21:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10521768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoebeus/pseuds/Phoebeus
Summary: Originally this was where all of my tumblr prompts and random ficlets would come to live, but it's quickly become home to all of my random puzzleshipping fluff, instead. We shall acknowledge it as such until at least one other ship invades!Timeline of Stories:Nov 1998 -- Heat & ShiversMay 1999 -- Twelve Stars Past MidnightOct 1999 -- Accepting SupportJan 2000 -- A Little TLCMay 2000 -- One-Sided Guessing Game, Matching BandsAug 2000 -- Inebriated MumblingsAug 2005 -- Celebrity CoupleOct 2006 -- Fifty-Five





	1. Matching Bands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a random need for a puzzleshipping proposal.

“Hey, do you like the jewelry that store sells?”

“Aa,” Atem answered easily, lifting one hand to jangle a loose golden band against the firmer black cuff that covered his wrist beneath. “That’s where that jeweler works who took my custom request for this.”

He had made the design himself, based on a brace he had had in his days as a pharaoh.

Yuugi nodded, eyes still lingering behind them on the jewelry shop.

He didn’t say anymore, though, at least then. He only brought it up again later, as they walked away from the food court- Talking as though the subject had never been dropped, and they hadn’t just been discussing whether they should pre-order that new Final Fantasy game or not. “So, you think that guy could make some custom rings if we asked?”

“Easily.” Atem studied his partner out of the corner of his eye as they walked, the way he was chewing on his soft drink straw and keeping his violet gaze pointedly forward, on a sunglasses stand straight ahead of them. He seemed calm enough… But- “Why do you ask?”

The young man shrugged, pausing to drink his soda before replying. “I was just thinking, do you think he could make some kind of matching pair? For us? I’m not really good at thinking up designs, but-”

Atem reached out and grabbed Yuugi’s wrist just as he almost left his reach- because he had kept walking where Atem had frozen stiff.

The move tugged Yuugi’s hand from his pocket and Atem was hyperaware that he was holding his boyfriend’s hand in public but he didn’t _care_ because- “ _Ai_ - _aibou_ … are you… are you asking if we could get matching bands? As in _wedding_ bands?” He swallowed hard, his throat tight as he dared to ask, “Are you… proposing to me?”

Because that was _insane._ They had been together for _years_ , and Yuugi had never… he had never indicated any interest in formalizing what they shared. That they knew for themselves was for life. There was just no need to!

…So why was a sweat breaking out on Atem's hands in record time? And why was his heart racing? And why was he thinking that surely _if_ Yuugi wanted… if he wanted that, he wouldn’t bring it up so _casually._ Atem must be reading too much into it… and now he had said _that_ and gods, what was he _thinking_ -

But when Yuugi finally dragged his gaze up from their hands, his face was warm and calm, but very, very still with the clear effort to _keep_ that calm as he slowly… slowly offered him the smallest of smiles. “I am if you want me to be.”

Atem… could only stare.

And he must have looked as dignified as a beached fish, but when Yuugi laughed, Atem knew instantly that it wasn’t amusement prompting the sound. “It doesn’t have to be that, though! I just thought it might be nice. And I’m turning twenty next month, so it seemed like a natural time to finally bring it up, and- well, I was just asking. I would still like to get a ring for myself, if you don’t mind, even if it doesn’t mean anything like that-”

The spill of would-be lighthearted chatter dammed up the instant Atem stepped forward and tugged Yuugi into a fierce, tight embrace.

“Yes,” he breathed against his partner’s hair, and he felt it as all of the tension drained out of Yuugi. The stiffness that had actually plagued him as he dared ask that, gone. 

No.

No, it must have been there all along. Throughout lunch, and back at the store, and… perhaps it had been there even longer, and Atem had never noticed it.

It didn’t matter now. Yuugi melted into his arms and wrapped his own around his waist. Clung back just as tightly. Atem rubbed his cheek against the side of his head, and whispered into his ear. “If you actually wish for that… I couldn’t imagine anything better than the privilege of wearing your ring.“ 

Yuugi let out a shuddering breath that might have been a sigh, or a sob… but the cheek that pressed against Atem's was dry, and the voice that whispered back to him was steady, and warm with love.

"Good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out at [ygospamproduction](http://ygospamproduction.tumblr.com/) if you want to follow me and these snippets!


	2. Heat & Shivers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Response to an OTP Quotes Challenge on Tumblr: “just tAKE THE JACKET” + “you’re very warm… It’s nice.”

“Hmm…” Yuugi sighed, rolling his chin until his cheek met with the table top, and he could feel the heat that warmed his feet and legs in his face, too. Or, at least one side of it- But it was paradise enough just as it was. He could stay like that forever… Which was a bit of a problem, since there was a textbook there, just at his nose, that he was supposed to be reading. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to nod off and lose the rest of his afternoon to an unplanned nap, and he would have to spend the evening he had promised Atem catching up on that homework.

Though, even if he might not like it, Atem would never _tell_ him what to do. He would still gladly break open that new Mahjong set and play it with him, once Yuugi made it clear he wasn’t going to worry about the reading… And he was just _soooo_ comfortable right now, he couldn’t be bothered to move-

Until a draft hit him in the side of the head, making him jerk up with a dazed squint.

_ What _ \- The door was around the corner around the hall, _how_ -

“ _Tadaima_ —”

Every bit of irritation faded from Yuugi’s face at that voice, and he extricated himself from the _kotatsu_ with only the smallest brush of reluctance before he tossed himself into the hallway.

“ _Okaerinasai_!”

“A-” Atem looked up just in time to shoot Yuugi a bright grin- That quickly melted into something far fonder as his partner plastered himself to his front, practically demanding the hug the once-king returned with enthusiasm, and a rumble of a chuckle. “ _Aibou_ … I was only at the library for a few hours.”

“I _know_ ,” Yuugi countered with a defensiveness that only encouraged the laughter- prompting the boy to give a light prod to covered ribs as he defended himself. “But I haven’t spent time with you at all this week, what with midterms, and I was looking forward to it.”

Atem hummed back in answer, his arms shifting to coax him a little closer, a little more firmly into his embrace, until they were flush against each other and Yuugi could feel every warm word leaving his other’s lungs. “I missed you, too…”

Yuugi couldn’t stop the grin that stretched over his face, and he didn’t try- He just shut his eyes as he was wrapped up tight in that hug. His mind had been swallowed by a sweet haze, not so different than the one the _kotatsu_ had offered him. Whatever their date night plans, if they could just stay like _that_ for a while, he wouldn’t mind at all…

Then Atem brushed his cheek against Yuugi’s, and-

“ _Aaa_!” Yuugi jerked back, and pressed a hand against his face as he matched Atem shocked stare for stare. “What- _You’re freezing_!”

“What?” Atem asked, confusion dropping the word with a flat plop between them until he blinked back to himself and, flushed slightly, raising one hand up towards his face in stumbling awareness. “ _Oh_ … Right.”

Yuugi took that hand, just to check, and grimaced as he confirmed the skin was indeed as cold as his face. “How did- Why aren’t you wearing gloves?” He asked, only to turn his frown slowly downward. “…or your jacket?”

Atem shrugged just out his sight, and his expression was evasive when Yuugi raised his eyes again. “It’s just a few blocks to the library, and it’s always warm enough in there, I don’t need it. And you ripped the side of your own yesterday, so I didn’t want to take the only one-”

“Fine, but if you’re going back tomorrow, just _take the jacket_ ,” Yuugi emphasized with a firm stare. “I don’t want you getting sick. And there’s no need to go without for my sake- I already talked to _Jii-chan_ about borrowing one of his tomorrow, so you don’t have to worry about me going to school.”

“-that’s good,” Atem answered on a quiet breath, slowly smiling as he looked up and realized Yuugi’s expression had already softened- And brightened further when he swore, “I’ll take it tomorrow, I promise.”

“Good.” Yuugi squeezed the hand he still held, then used to steer him further into the house. “Then come on, let’s get you warmed up before you get a cold for real.”

“-isn’t _that_ supposed to give me a cold?” Atem teased as they came into view of the _kotatsu_ and moved to sit, earning a head shake from Yuugi.

“You know that’s only if you sleep under it all night, and we’re just going to… What are you doing?” he asked, a flush quickly spreading over his face. For Atem had not settled at the table beside him, but _behind_ him. Strung his arms around his waist, and curled legs up around his, until he was flush up against his back… Their forms matched size for size, and aligned _perfectly_.

“I like this better,” Atem explained in simple, casual tones- Against the back of Yuugi’s neck, making him quiver with the sensation that ran up and down his spine with one, little breath.

It was beyond distracting, and there was _no way_ Yuugi was going to be able to study like that, and he opened his mouth to say so- But his jaw muscles convulsed when Atem sighed that time, for true, relaxing into putty around him with the exhalation. “You’re really warm… It’s nice.”

He couldn’t… He couldn’t say anything. Yuugi just, shut his mouth around a smile, focusing his flushed stare on his textbook as he raised a hand to thread his fingers through Atem’s- Completely apathetic to the icy skin. “-you’re barely under the blanket, though, behind me like that.”

A content hum was the only argument Atem had to give… But it was a good one, really.

And Yuugi was in no state to argue… Especially when lips brushed faintly over the top of his spine, sending another shiver down his back.

The chill was, honestly, quite nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out at [ygospamproduction](http://ygospamproduction.tumblr.com/) if you want to follow me and these snippets!


	3. Twelve Stars Past Midnight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Response to an OTP Quotes Challenge on Tumblr: “You know what? I wasn’t even surprised by that. I’m that used to you.”

“…Wait…” Yuugi squinted at his television, and the numbers that just did not add up. He was only looking at the save file selection page, but he could tell at a glance that something was off. He had expected to see ‘Starsx25’ under his file name, but instead it said ‘Starsx37’. “That can’t be right.”

“What can’t be right?” Atem asked as he came into the bedroom, a bowl of freshly popped popcorn and two sodas in hand.

“Our save file,” he answered, starting the game up properly before he sat back on his heels and frowned- unaware of Atem just behind him, freezing with a caught expression on his face. “There’s thirty-seven stars on this file. And look! We’re back in the castle entrance way.”

“Isn’t that how many we won before the power went out the other day?”

“It is,” Yuugi confirmed, turning to Atem- only to narrow his eyes when he saw the clearly schooled poise on his boyfriend’s face. “But, we didn’t save first. We should have lost all of the stars we earned that night.”

Atem shrugged, sitting down and crossing his legs as he popped one of the drinks open. “Maybe we just forgot, and we saved after all? I would call that a good thing.”

“Yeah, so would I, except I remember checking the game before bed that night - while you were in the bath - and it had reset back to twenty-five.”

…Atem, stalled for the small, split second it took to calculate a proper reply... and realized in the next breath that he had messed up. One side glance into those purple eyes, and he knew that Yuugi knew.

And Yuugi raised his brows. “-Atem?” It, really shouldn’t be a big deal. Yuugi was rarely possessive of his save files, and they passed the controller between them on one-players all of the time. 

But this was something of a special case. They had been sharing this replay of Super Mario 64 as a sort of, laid-back in-house date night thing, and the point was they got to play it _together_.

So, why would Atem go and play it alone, as he obviously did?

Yuugi didn’t know… but something about the number of stars prodded at his thoughts well before Atem finally sighed and stopped dodging his gaze to shoot him a small, chagrined grin. “-you remember Sunday, when you were sure I had been out of bed long before you?”

“Yeah, I remembered you getting up around dawn, but nothing else.” Yuugi looked between him and the screen with the faintest of surprise. “You played this?” Weird, usually Atem wanted to just sit back and think, or go on walks when he couldn’t sleep, and didn’t want to wake Yuugi. “It must not have been as fun if you had it on mute.”

“No, but, I wanted to catch us up.” Atem set his drink aside and looked up- only to stall and grin again at the surprise in Yuugi’s eyes. “I know you don’t like redoing puzzles like this, at least right away, so I tried to get us back to where we were before the power went out.”

“Even the same stars?” Yuugi asked, turning slowly back to the screen. “That had to take hours.”

“Just a couple,” Atem shrugged. “I was up anyways, and I thought, you don’t even like the Hazy Maze Cave much. It would be a shame if we wasted our night going through it again just after- _aibou_?” He quirked a brow for the quiet hiccup coming from his boyfriend, only to slowly relax as the expression on his face marked it as a laugh… not even tensing when Yuugi put down the controller and turned- to fall on him.

It was a long familiar move, and Atem gathered his body close and bent his head just so, so that Yuugi’s enthusiastic hug wouldn’t knock his skull against the carpet. He let them fall, though, without any fight- and found himself flat on the ground with nothing to grin at save ceiling, until Yuugi decided to get up on his hands and knees to beam down at him.

“So, you don’t mind?” Atem asked, eyes glittering lightly with a mischief to match the challenge that shot through Yuugi’s own.

His partner snorted, dismissing the very idea before leaning down to catch his mouth. Atem jerked just the slightest bit, his shocked exhale brushing over their lips and warming Yuugi down to his toes… and then his other self relaxed beneath him, every muscle in his body turning to jelly, save for where their mouths touched, and his fingers reached up to curl in Yuugi’s hair, and keep him close.

Yuugi could taste the honeyed chicken from dinner on his tongue, and the faintest hint of salt and butter.

Atem must have snuck some of the popcorn already…

He had nothing to say about that, though, when he finally shifted back enough to part from his other self, lips twitching slightly when Atem curled his back, just the subtlest bit, to try and follow him. “Mind? No, I don’t… I’m not even surprised, now that I get what happened. It should have been a given you’d do something that considerate.”

Atem's mouth twisted with a smile he was just too dazed to really form. “…I didn’t mean for you to figure it out. I just wanted to make you happy.”

“That’s the biggest given at all,” his partner quietly countered, and the two were caught in the mutual trap of each other's gaze, neither minding in the least… until Yuugi finally blinked himself free to glance at the television through his bangs. “And you just freed up a bunch of catch-up time I thought we’d have to do tonight… We could use that time to keep pushing ahead, if you want, but…”

He didn’t even finish before Atem reached up and tugged him back down by the sleeves, earning a snicker that Yuugi quickly smothered in another kiss.

Lethal Lava Land could wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out at [ygospamproduction](http://ygospamproduction.tumblr.com/) if you want to follow me and these snippets!


	4. Celebrity Couple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Response to an OTP Quotes Challenge on Tumblr: “aaah I can’t stop blushing… No you’re not helping at all!”

“Thank you so much for your advice, Mutou-san!!”

“Good luck tomorrow, Kiku-chan- Though you won’t need it. Just trust in the cards you picked,” Atem assured, handing the kid’s deck back to her as he stood up straight. “Whatever happens, you’ll have nothing to be ashamed of if you do that.”

“Right!” The young girl beamed up at him and waved farewell as Atem finally turned to leave the junior championship kids’ side of the hall- Walking away to a chorus of thank yous from young duelists and parents alike.

He gave them a thumbs up as he left, but didn’t aim for the adult competitor’s side of the room. He moved instead for the door that led directly to the hotel side of the convention center. The meet up was formally over for the day, and he had spent too long with the kids as it was.

He was late- They were supposed to meet a good ten minutes ago.

There was a little rush to each step and a private sort of grin on Atem’s face as he let himself into the lobby, already excited to find him, embrace him, ask about his trip and how he was- As if they hadn’t spoken on the phone just hours ago.

But, the moment he left the tunnel and entered the lobby, his steps came to a sudden stop.

He was _there_ , but-

“Yuugi-san! Yuugi-san!!” a young man was crying out, pushing passed a couple others to try and reach the front of a rather large, rather tight circle. “How did you manage to get Duel Monsters into your game?!”

“Is it true you know Kaiba Seto personally?” a girl asked rather calmly- While tugging on her target’s arm. “Did he really secretly buy the rights to Duel Monsters and give you access to them?”

“Please…” One shorter boy tried to speak up from the back, looking close to tears as his hope of being heard quickly wilted away. “Please, how did you submit your game for that competition? I want to-”

“Please!” cried another voice, this one completely and wonderfully familiar, even choked and stuttering through his words. “I don’t- I’d be happy to answer all of your questions, but-” the center of attention tried to say, only to start when his darting eyes found Atem over the top of some stranger’s shoulder. Yuugi’s relief was almost as sharp as his delight as he beamed at him, seeming to deflate a bit with what had to be the assumption that Atem would join him- That he would extricate him from this situation, or at least share the burden of fame.

Atem didn’t say a word. He just crossed his arms and leaned against the side of the front desk.

Yuugi blinked through his shock, visibly struggling to process what Atem was doing… Only to shoot him a flushed-faced glare when he had the audacity to smile at him.

Atem could practically hear Yuugi yelling inside his head - he didn’t need an active connection between their minds to know _that_ \- but the duelist just couldn’t give up the chance to see _Yuugi_ in the spotlight.

It was some moments before anyone in the crowd took notice of Atem, and by then the hotel staff had already come out to separate exuberant fans and flustered celebrity. Only the young, weepy boy was allowed to stay, as Yuugi waved him over and asked him what sort of game he was looking to publish, what competitions he could go to, who he could contact for help or funding- And the whole time Atem remained where he was, the amused edge to his smile softening as he watched his partner fall into the role of mentor with ease, once there weren’t so many voices crying for his attention at once.

It was hard to say who stared at the attentive man with more adoration- The boy, or Atem.

But the young would-be game-maker just couldn’t handle his own good luck for long. When his questions became nothing more than stutters, Yuugi pressed a business card into his hand and sent him on his way with an invitation to call if he needed anything else.

Yuugi watched the boy go until he was out of sight, beyond the lobby door… And then his grin turned back into a glower as he turned sharply to Atem.

Who just grinned back. “And how was the Great Creator’s flight?”

Yuugi’s blush rose in perfect contrast to his frown as he closed the distance between them- Grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the elevator without a single pause in his step. “ _Not. Helping_.”

Atem chuckled, closing his fingers happily around their captor’s. “I would have thought you’d be used to the attention by now.”

“Sure, on _your_ behalf,” Yuugi emphasized as he pushed the up arrow by the elevator, referring to the fact that, as far as the public was concerned, he was nothing more than the better half of Mutou Atem, three times world champion in Duel Monsters. Yuugi was just the once King of Games, who hadn’t played in any public competition since Battle City over half a decade ago. For all accounts, he was just a private citizen who happened to be involved with someone famous.

And then, last month, Spherium II went public.

“You’re just not used to it,” Atem consoled, his own tension fading as he saw Yuugi respond to his voice, his brow smoothing beneath his bangs and his grip relaxing. The duelist squeezed his partner’s fingers as the doors opened with _ding_. “And honestly, I’m glad- It’s about time you got the recognition you deserve.”

“You know I’ve never minded that,” Yuugi protested, but there was no fire to it- He was smiling as he stepped inside the lift.

“You still deserve it- And I know you’ve missed competing,” Atem insisted as he followed him- Stepping one step further than Yuugi did, so that he could bury his face in his neck and breathe him in.

_Gods_ , he had missed him.

The welcome was instant, the body beneath him turning, arms sliding up to tug him closer, wrap him up tight as the elevator closed behind them.

It was a very long, very tangled moment later that Yuugi broke their kiss, pulling back enough to smile at him. “-I don’t know the floor, _mou hitori no boku_.”

Atem hummed in answer, twisting to press the right number as Yuugi rested his chin on his shoulder and mused out loud to the both of them.

“We should go get some food soon, unless you like the room service here. But I bet it’s pricey.”

“It is, but we should probably take advantage of it- I need your attention this evening.” Atem smirked as he turned back to him, brushing their noses in passing as he revealed- “I changed some cards.”

“-again?” Yuugi leaned back from their almost kiss, eyes wide with incredulous shock. “But you settled on that deck just before you left!”

“I know,” Atem protested, shrugging weakly as he offered his partner a conciliatory grin. “But I was bored during the plane transfer, so I bought a couple boosters, and- Well, they came out with new Buster Blader supports.”

“Of course they did,” Yuugi sighed, but Atem just grinned- He had caught that little spark of interest in his eyes just before he shut them. “So, you want to duel before dinner?”

“If you don’t mind.” Atem brushed his cheek with his hand- Then moved it to take Yuugi’s as the elevator went still and the doors opened, allowing them to separate and step out into the hallway. “I changed too much to consider it the same deck now.”

“Alright… But you know Kaiba-kun’s going to kill you if you drop out- He’s been talking about this for weeks.”

“If I have to, then I have to.” That was their tradition, after all. Atem never competed with a deck he hadn’t challenged his partner with- That he hadn’t _defeated_ his partner with. The organizers had been _really_ mad when he withdrew last year, just two days before the finals- They even threatened to ban him. But that was just how it was. Atem couldn’t play- Couldn’t _win_ when he knew who really deserved the glory.

“Then we’ll just have to keep playing and tweaking the deck until you win,” Yuugi decided, nodding to himself as Atem chuckled.

“ _Or_ I could just accept that it might be time to retire. Enjoy my turn as ‘the partner of that famous, world renowned gamer,’” the once-king suggested as he found his room and unlocked the door… Grinning when he turned to find Yuugi looking at him with a heat that would be _far_ more threatening if he weren’t also blushing again.

“-the day you retire is the day I adopt _Jii-chan’s_ overalls,” Yuugi snorted- Pushing Atem firmly into the room when he had the gall to laugh.

Honestly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out at [ygospamproduction](http://ygospamproduction.tumblr.com/) if you want to follow me and these snippets!


	5. A Little TLC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Response to 'Shipping Questions' Meme: Which half of your OTP gives the other a massage when they seem tense? Which one takes long baths?

“ _Tadaima_!! Sorry I’m late!”

“Is that you, _aibou_?!”

“It’s me!” Yuugi smiled as he shut the door behind him, rushing to brush the snow off his shoulders and toe out of his boots as he heard Atem coming down the stairs. “The store was out of oranges, so I had to go a few blocks over to another one to get some. My bad for eating all of the ones we had yesterday, I know. But Bakura-kun says Happy New Year, and he sent some _mocha_ along for you- and I found a postcard from Anzu-chan in the postbox!”

“So it got here in time?” Atem answered in a quickly lowering voice as he came into the entrance hall, offering Yuugi a smile the moment they made eye contact. “That’s good, she mentioned it on the phone yesterday. We’ll have to tell her it got here.”

“Yup…” Yuugi matched him grin for grin- but his was quick to teeter when he got a good look at Atem. He could swear the ratio of delight and relief in his smile was… _off_ today.

But he wasn’t certain until Atem strung his arms around his waist and pulled him close… and Yuugi could feel the tension in his back when he dropped his bags to return the hug.

“Happy New Year, _aibou_.”

“Happy New Year,” he echoed – a sentiment the two had shared a few times already since they shared _udon_ the night before – but this time Yuugi was soundly distracted as he pulled back a bit, and looked curiously up into crimson eyes. “Did everything go okay in the shop?” Atem had shared a shift with _Jii-chan_ , after all, selling the grab bags he and Yuugi had packed up last weekend.

And, well… the holiday sale could be a killer… and Atem was rarely comfortable with demanding crowds, even if he never let them see it.

Atem met Yuugi’s hesitant concern with a confused tilt of the head, but quickly smiled as he let Yuugi step back and turned to lead the way into the house- missing how Yuugi eyed him as he rubbed his own shoulder. “Of course. We had a large crowd come through, and we sold every bag. _Jii-chan_ was happy.”

“Bet he was…” Yuugi’s gaze flicked over Atem’s shoulder to the stairs, calculations running through his head… and when he belatedly turned to take off his coat, it was with a fresh determination in his eyes. “Where is he, anyways?”

“He’s taking a nap, I think. He was happy, but it still wore him out.”

“Uh-huh,” Yuugi hummed, stepping up out of the entry to join Atem with his bag still in hand. “And Mama?”

“She went to her book club for their New Year poetry reading. She said to leave the boxed food alone until she gets home – she wants us to share it for dinner – but if you’re hungry we could share the oranges, or the _mochi_ Bakura sent.”

“No, I’m fine.” In fact, he didn’t even bother putting the food up, setting the bag down by the kitchen door before grabbing Atem’s hand instead, tugging him along as he made for the stairs. “Come on.”

“…Where are we going?” Atem asked after they made it to the second floor, and Yuugi bypassed their bedroom door.

Yuugi just grinned, pulling him towards the bathroom with a simple, “Humor me.”

A good forty minutes later found the two back in their room, water still dripping from heavy, moist spikes, and Atem lying on his stomach over the sheets, the comforter pushed to the side. He had his chin propped on folded arms as he watched Yuugi come back from his chest of drawers- wearing a sweater where he had refused Atem one, despite the cold in the room. “…Are you going to tell me what you are up to yet?”

Yuugi snorted, climbing up on the bed near Atem’s knee, making him crane his head around to watch him. “What do you mean?”

“Well, we could start with the bath, since you knew I had one last night and-” And Atem’s breath caught as Yuugi leaned over and kneaded the lowest point of his back through his t-shirt, slowly playing over the flesh… without ever breaking their locked gaze. “…I… did not need another one.”

“Maybe not to clean,” Yuugi acknowledged, smiling at the way Atem’s eyes gave a dazed, uncertain flutter. “That’s why I didn’t join you- just talked while you soaked. I know you like staying in as long as the water’s hot.”

“Sure, if it’s near bedtime.” The heat helped relax the tension in Atem’s thoughts and body enough for him to actually sleep, after all. Some nights it was downright critical.

But right now… “…And this?” he asked as his partner’s other hand joined his first, both running up the line of his spine as Yuugi readjusted himself over his legs.

“You’re still tense. It looks like the bath wasn’t enough,” he explained- casually, as though Atem’s breath wasn’t catching and dripping out of him in loose gusts with each new twist of Yuugi's wrist.

“… _Aibou_ …” There was, something- not a protest, but still an intention to counter in Atem’s voice. But it was weak with distraction, and when he didn’t follow it up with any context, Yuugi chose to ignore it.

He was free to play at Atem's muscles as he liked, listen to his breathing undisturbed, move over and around his body without any comment he didn’t directly prompt- until Yuugi had covered every inch of him from the shoulders down. Satisfied to that point, he coaxed Atem to lift his head and make room, so that Yuugi could sit in the pillow's place and support his other's head in his lap.

The new position freed him to play his fingers over Atem's shoulders and neck… but his efforts breathed unexpected life back into the prone man. 

Atem suddenly twisted to loop his arms around Yuugi's waist, pulling his head closer to his partner's body.

Yuugi’s own breath caught as warm lips found his side, where his sweater had ridden up and exposed the skin… but he let the touch wander only a few moments before he caught the back of his other self's head. “Hey.”

Atem slowly turned his head, and Yuugi had to smile when he saw sleepy, fogged eyes blinking up at him.

“None of that… I just want you to relax, okay? Let me spoil you for once.”

He could practically read the counter in Atem’s eyes - that ‘he spoiled him all of the time’ - but he didn’t say it. Yuugi stared at him with warm affection, said “Please?” and Atem shut his again… pressing his brow against Yuugi’s hip as he sunk bonelessly back against the sheets, and his partner’s legs.

The only things he muttered after that were appreciatively little hums… until his breathing evened out completely, and Yuugi finally felt safe to pull the comforter across his back.

When Sugoroku got up an hour later, he found Yuugi still there, sitting up in bed- Atem fast asleep in his lap as he played on a muted game boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out at [ygospamproduction](http://ygospamproduction.tumblr.com/) if you want to follow me and these snippets!


	6. One-Sided Guessing Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Response to 'Shipping Questions' Meme: Which half of your OTP is first to notice the slightest change in the other?

"Hmm, there's a deal on a hotel room in Kyoto if you visit anytime in June."

“That so?” Yuugi asked, voice hollow with distraction as he glared at his business textbook, marking out an answer from the self-test he was taking for practice.

His focus was sensible, but Atem's expression still stiffened when Yuugi didn't even look up. “…Yes, the discount popped up in my e-mail. I must had been subscribed to some listing after I booked for that tournament last month.”

“Huh, probably,” Yuugi hummed, turning a page. “Makes sense they would be advertising deals. They probably don’t make a lot of money in June, what with everyone our age being in school.”

“Right.” Because _of course_ , he was being silly, Even if Yuugi would have liked that idea, Atem should have realized that he could never say yes. Not with that timing.

It was really too bad that he couldn’t look for some other, more convenient time… But that would ruin the point.

He closed the website and returned to his efforts to beat Yuugi’s Tetris score, the endeavor doomed from the start as he glared passed the blocks, trying to form a new plan… missing how the devoted student quietly stared at Atem out of the corner of his eye.

Twenty-seven minutes later-

“ _Aibou_ , do you have a second?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“These boots-” Atem turned the screen, displaying an item from a shopping site. “Don’t these look like the ones you were looking at in the store the other day?”

“The ones that were sold out when we went back later?” Yuugi put down his pen, accepting the laptop for a better look. “You’re right, they do.”

Atem clenched his teeth to keep from grinning, his muscles relaxing at the light of interest in his partner’s eyes… until Yuugi clicked something, and-

“Huh, not too expensive, and they’re low on stock right now, but it says they could deliver it in five weeks or so.”

“…Oh.” Atem skimmed over the page as Yuugi handed the computer back, just to confirm… eyes flicking back up to see his partner staring at him. “…Do you still want to get them?”

Yuugi instantly smiled, turning back to his desk. “Sure! Why not? Do you need my card?”

“No, I’ve still got the number saved…”

And Atem added the boots to the shopping cart, biting back a frown.

Another forty-three minutes _later_ -

“ _Gaaah_ , I think I’m done,” Yuugi announced, stretching his back as he rolled back in his chair. “I can finish this tomorrow, do you want to- Atem?” He cocked his head to the side to see his other lying back on the bed, ear buds in as he stared at the laptop screen.

Yuugi watched the lights play over his face, simply… enjoying the sight for a moment, before he finally sought to disturb it by leaning over and poking a shoulder until Atem took out the ear buds. “What are you watching?”

“The trailer for Majora’s Mask.” He turned the screen towards his partner, watching Yuugi’s eyes widen with far more than casual interest. “It came out last month, remember?”

“ _Right_ , we were so caught up with Donkey Kong that we missed it, huh?” Yuugi grimaced enthusiastically as the camera zoomed in on the giant, grinning moon right before the video ended. “Thanks for reminding me. I pre-ordered it back in February, and I forgot all about it. I wonder if they’ll still give it to me, or if I’ll have to pay again.”

“-I wonder…” Atem echoed with a blank stare at the screen, barely reacting as Yuugi stood up and stretched again.

“I’ll check tomorrow. Anyways, I have to go to the bathroom. You want anything from the kitchen?”

“No, I’m good,” Atem dismissed, merely nodding as Yuugi left the room… waiting a careful fourteen seconds longer before pushing the laptop aside and flopping back with his arm over his face.

Dammit, _why_ was he having such a hard time fishing out a birthday present for Yuugi?!

It should have been so simple… Atem had just _made_ his partner things over the last few holidays- Christmas and New Year’s and Valentine’s and White Day. But, he had been halfway through making a pendant when it occurred to him that Yuugi wore that amulet he gave him last New Year’s _every day_. And the new one would never match… And that made Atem think, he shouldn’t _literally_ shower his partner in gold and jewels- He could never wear them all at once! And, wouldn’t it get stale after a while?  

He had decided, for _this_ birthday, he would get Yuugi something _new_ , but still something he would like and enjoy and wouldn’t have gotten otherwise… But, it was proving far more difficult than it should. Yuugi, just… He needed so little, and what he did want, he got himself!

What was he supposed to do?!

“Whelp, looks like we’re out of sodas again. I told _Jii-chan_ \- Atem?”

He should have responded faster, but Atem found little reason to regret his stalling when lean, warm legs closed over his thighs, and he pulled his arm back to see Yuugi frowning down at him.

“You okay, _mou hitori no boku_?”

“-yes, _aibou_. Just tired.” He shot him smile, all too sincerely weary.

Yuugi hummed, pushing his other’s bangs back before pulling away with an affectionate brush of knuckles over a cheek. “Yeah, I’m pretty worn out, too. You want to just turn in ear- You left the laptop on.”

“-Ah.” He hadn’t meant to do that, but Atem still barely looked up as his partner turned to the computer. He was far more interested in rolling a thumb over a knee tucked against his waist, playing his other fingers along the inside of Yuugi’s thigh.

Yuugi, though, barely noticed, too busy huffing impatiently at his electronics. “Honestly, can’t even shut the thing down in under a minute… I can’t believe I haven’t replaced it yet, it’s really passed its prime.”

“It _can_ be very slow,” Atem agreed idly, only for his caress to hiccup as he sucked in a breath. He took one quick, checking look at his partner, then forced himself to relax, keep his gaze low as he asked, “Are you planning to replace it?”

A long, strained silence followed, Yuugi making  a whole myriad of faces that Atem witnessed only on the edge in his periphery.

“… _No_. It would be nice, yeah, and we’ll have to eventually, but isn’t that too extravagant? I can’t excuse spending that kind of money.”

Yuugi sighed his ‘I’m being an adult and it sucks’ sigh and leaned over to push the laptop onto the desk- just as the smallest of grins tugged at Atem’s mouth.

Presumably, his partner didn’t see it.

But an hour later, Yuugi mirrored that grin against the nape of Atem’s neck, snickering as his other slept obliviously on.

He would have to remember to act shocked, or Atem might be disappointed… He very clearly wanted to surprise him, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out at [ygospamproduction](http://ygospamproduction.tumblr.com/) if you want to follow me and these snippets!


	7. Inebriated Mumblings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drunkfic! Prompt was...  
> 67: “Stop being so cute.”  
> 90: “Catch me if you can!”  
> 92: “Are you drunk?”
> 
> Check out ygospamproduction on tumblr for other prompts!

****“ _Aibou_?” Atem murmured, the creak of the bedroom door louder than his voice as he stepped inside. 

The room was predictably dark, the moon shining through the skylight the only thing keeping him from tripping as he crept towards the bed, already shrugging out of his coat. He should probably take the time to change completely, strip off the pants and socks and shirt he had been wearing for well over half a day. But Atem had spend the last fourteen hours in cramped plane seats and loud, monotonous airports, and all he wanted to do was crawl into bed and bury his face in his partner’s neck and _sleep_.

There was just one teensy problem, though…. when he pulled back the covers and slid into bed, there was no one there to cuddle.

Atem frowned at the wall a good thirty seconds before rolling over, dragging his jacket up off of the floor by the cuff, and fishing his phone out of the pocket to dial the last name in the caller I.D. 

It rang five times when, just before it flipped to voicemail and _Atem’s mood_  flipped from confused to anxious, someone picked up.

“ _Moshi moshi~_ ” 

Thin black eyebrows shot up and Atem tilted the phone to check the caller name. 

It was definitely his, though. The top number in Atem’s phone, marked only as 相.

He put the receiver back to his ear. “Honda?” 

“Eh? _Aaaaheeyyyy_ Atem! You’re home?!”

“Yes,” he answered, squinting as if that would help him better make out his friend’s blurred speech. “I caught an early flight, so I was going to surprise everyone tomorrow… but _aibou_  isn’t here.”

“Eh? Tha’s funny, we left ‘im on your couch.”

Atem, stared at the ceiling, thinking… he hadn’t gone through the living room…

He got up, walking back into the hall and down the stairs as he whispered, “And why is that? And, why do you have his phone?”

“Eh, he left it in da cab, y’know?! Lucky jerk, he’s gonna owe Jounouchi one t’morrow. He found it when we got out. _Hey, Jounouchi-_ ”

Atem flinched at the yell, and hung up after a quick hiss of a farewell. Just his luck if Honda managed to wake up the whole house from over a _phone_. 

Cutting off the call and leaving the phone muted on the hall table meant not getting certain key answers as to _what was going on_ … but he was banking that he would soon have a new source of information.

And, just his luck, there he was.

Yuugi, asleep on the couch, fully clothed and wrapped around three seat cushions like a monkey on a vine.

And Atem, whatever his exhaustion, confusion, and mild irritation, had to pause and smile at the sight… before reaching down, pulling the pillows away, and lugging his partner up.

As predicted, the man barely even jerked at finding himself suddenly sitting upright, just half a second from sleep. No, Yuugi blinked about him as if unsure whether someone calling in a crowd had said _his_  name… before his eyes finally caught on the man holding him up. 

“Hello, _aibou_ ,” he greeted, grinning lightly as he warmly, but instantly asked, “Are you drunk?”

“…’tem…” Yuugi mumbled, sincere wonder mixing with foggy awareness to paint his smile with a dizzy glee. “You’re home.”

“I’m home,” he confirmed, aiming to repeat his all too obvious question. Before he could repeat it, though, his partner displayed an astounding amount of strength and dexterity… by pushing Atem onto the couch and catapulting himself at him.

Atem had just a second to stare, bug-eyed, at the wall over Yuugi’s shoulder, before his weight smacked fully into him and sent him falling back into the cushions. Atem couldn’t catch his balance, but he at least managed to catch _Yuugi_  up in his arms before the boy rolled right off of him and onto the floor. 

Yuugi didn’t seem very disturbed by the possibility, though, leaving Atem to gather up his dead weight and clutch him close as Yuugi focused on humming into his shirt. “ _Hmmmm_ , missed you.”

“Missed you, too,” Atem choked out- Lungs nice and well smashed under the full, moving weight of a partner who seemed set on making himself comfortable. In the meantime, Atem could barely _breathe_ … but after a few seconds he did manage to _smell_.

He sniffed a little more purposefully after that first whiff… and pushed a whining Yuugi up, high enough to glower at him, eye to eye. “Yuugi, why do you smell like smoke?” 

And booze and perfume, yes… but _smoke_?!

Yuugi just blinked at him for a breath, perhaps confused by the question, perhaps by that all too serious use of his proper name… but after a moment he smiled a bit, shrugging against the hands that held him up. “S’rry… the club had smoking. Must have got on me.”

Atem blinked, expression softening into curiosity. “The club?”

“Uh-huh.” He fidgeted, and his main concern answered Atem let him loose, welcomed him without comment or reaction as Yuugi cuddled into his arms, burying his nose in the clef of his collar bone. “Strip club… to celebrate ending the semester.”

“You and Jounouchi and Honda went to a strip club?” Atem checked, arching his brow at the dark ceiling as his fingers thread up into the back of Yuugi’s hair, shifting through the locks as the head nodded.

“Yup… ‘togi, too… Jounouchi-kun said, if he has to look after us, he wants a show better than us…”

Atem snorted, humor sapping the last of his tension and leaving him once again vulnerable to his jet lag. And with no good reason to move, he relaxed back into the cushions, tugging Yuugi that little bit closer. “He would say that. Did you have a good time?”

“Uh-huh… nice dances. Lady showed me a funny card trick.”

“….the stripper?”

“Huh?” Yuugi leaned up long enough to squint at him, confirm their mutual bafflement before shaking his head. “ _No_ , customer. Hanging out with bridal shower.” 

“ _Oh._ ” 

Apparently that was answer enough for Yuugi to feel safe to rebury his nose in Atem’s neck… and start tickling his skin with his breath as he snickered. “Heh, the stripper… wonder what kinda card trick she could have done.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Atem mused, shifting under the tickle of that laugh and rolling his own fingers down his partner’s back. “Stick a whole deck’s worth down her shirt, and then when she takes it off, it’s disappeared?” 

Yuugi’s efforts to stifle a laugh resulted in spit all over Atem’s neck.

“ _Pffttt_ \- Hehehehehe, _mou hitori no boku_!”

“I’ll be here all night,” he drolled, subtly rubbing the wet spot when Yuugi abandoned it in favor of rubbing his cheek against Atem’s chest, instead.

“Good… I missed you.”

The dry humor in Atem’s head withered up into something warmer, more substantial as he craned his head to look at Yuugi. He found his partner smiling right back at him, a surprising amount of focus behind his shot eyes. “Wish I’d just come.”

“You had your finals,” Atem reminded him, soft with allowance and a refusal of any of that horrid self-judgment that so easily took root in his partner’s head. He would tear out each and every seed he could find before any could sprout, if he had his way.

He saw no such sign of guilt in that moment, though. Just a touch of reluctant acceptance, and then his dreamy partner smiled again, rolling up until he could reach his face.

Yuugi’s breath smelled of booze and something stale, like fried food that should have been brushed out of his teeth hours ago… but Atem wouldn’t have turned from that kiss for anything. He had been aching for it for days, and had felt harshly denied from the moment his back hit an empty bed. He would take it and savor it and breathe in every bit of it now that he had it, and worry about taste later.

It was hard to focus on that, anyways, when Yuugi kept mumbling through the shifting of their mouths. “Amazing, in the tournament. Stupid broadcast. Watched this morning, before test,” he explained, fidgeting in Atem’s adjusting, tightening grip… until Atem just up and caught Yuugi’s legs between his, clenching the knees to keep him still as he leaned back to kiss Yuugi’s nose.

“Didn’t like it?”

“Loved it,” Yuugi said shortly, dodging another peck to chase Atem’s lips with single-minded insistence.

And who was Atem to fight getting caught?

“Just, cameraman must love you. Kept zooming in on your face, and not the cards,” Yuugi explained when they came up for air, dropping his nose back to Atem’s heaving collar bone as he fought to catch his own breath. “Missed half the duel, just watching you think… you need to stop being so cute. When you find an opening, and do that smirk.” 

Atem gave the ceiling a mock version of the look Yuugi referenced, able to conjure it up on queue after years of very pointed praise from the partner now complaining in his arms. “So, you want me to stop doing that?”

He knew the answer would be no, likely admitted as a reluctant concession with shy smiles and warm eyes.

…but nothing came. And after a few breaths of silence, and sudden stillness, Atem blinked down at the top of his head. “ _Aibou_?”

…

Yuugi sniffled, mumbling something incoherent on an out-breath.

And Atem flopped back, a chuckle caught in his weighed down chest as his partner snoozed on. 

It was good to be home.


	8. Accepting Support

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Atem's birthday prompt + “no.” “please?” “no.” “please?” “no.” “please?” “ok.”

“ _Aibou_ , stop! You’re going to fall, and I can’t keep this steady with one hand!”

“Calm down, it’s fine,” Yuugi assured, smiling down at the man standing below him. Atem just kept on glowering, a sharp panic clear beneath his frustration. That, plus the sight of his dark fingers pressed white against the ladder, softened Yuugi’s already gentle tone as he spoke. “ _Jii-chan_ re-attached the pole yesterday. He used a concrete screw and everything.”

“Do you even know what that means?”

“No, but I know he wouldn’t be careless after you just got hurt.” Yuugi stalled his comments as he spotted the box he was looking for. It was already knocked over, probably from when Atem tried to reach for it… only for the ladder support to give out on him.

Yuugi reached for it, and dragged it over by the lid.

“Stand back, _mou hitori no boku_!”

“What are you–” Atem flinched and jumped back just before the box hit the ground and exploded across the storage room.

A dozen or so wrapped boxes of chess pieces cascaded across the floor.

Atem looked back up with a flat, disapproving frown, and Yuugi just shrugged.

“You said not to try and climb down while holding it. And there was nothing breakable in there, so why not?” he defended, moving carefully back down the ladder as he talked.

The closer he got to the ground, the more Atem’s expression relaxed. By the time his partner finally touched the floor, he just looked _tired_ … his hands instinctively reaching for Yuugi’s arms as he came into reach. “I know you want to help, _aibou_ , but I could have done that.”

Yuugi’s brow furrowed as he _stared_ at his boyfriend, letting Atem reach for him… only to grab _his_ arm, instead.

Very gently.

“You didn’t want me climbing up there at _all_ ,” he said, fingers carefully running along the seam where Atem’s flesh gave way to the plaster of his cast. “But you were going to get up there with a broken arm?”

“I could have used a broom or something,” the once king protested… staring into Yuugi’s eyes with the most steady of poker faces.

Except Yuugi could see it _was_ a poker face.

“ _Atem_ ,” he started, sliding his hands down to catch those warm fingers in a proper hold, squeezing with a light pressure that his boyfriend instantly mirrored. “I know you just want to keep working like normal… but you need to rest. You were just in the _hospital_ , and you were pushing yourself too much even _before_ the fall.”

Atem’s expression hardened, full lips setting in a flat line as he spoke. “ _Aibou_ , I don’t need my arm just to work in the shop. I don’t need you to–”

“Right. On that, I’m taking your shift tomorrow morning.”

“ _What_?!” Atem tried to pull his hands back, but while Yuugi wouldn’t risk any yanking hold on his _broken_ arm, he kept a stubborn hold of his uninjured hand. “ _Aibou!_ You have your classes by noon on Tuesday! You shouldn’t waste time–”

“I can get my readings done tonight, easy.”

“Still! I don’t want to put extra work on you just because my arm is–”

“You were on a plane for twelve hours Sunday,” he interrupted, forcing Atem into a tense, uncertain silence as Yuugi quietly went on. “You worked over twelve hours everyday Monday to Thursday, helping in the store _and_ the house, jumped on a plane Friday, ran through a full tournament in a day and a half, then jumped on a plane to come _home…_ and tried to do it all over again.”

“I was going to rest this weekend,” Atem retorted firmly… but softly, his gaze set on something… _nothing_ over Yuugi’s shoulder.

Until Yuugi reached up and grabbed his chin, coaxing his eyes back to his with a gentle tug.

“You can’t do everything yourself, Atem. You shouldn’t _have_ to do everything.”

“I always help in the store and the house,” he protested, but he wasn’t fighting anymore. His gaze was _pleading_ intensely for Yuugi to _understand_. “And I chose to go to that tournament. I didn’t want to leave _Jii-chan_ with more work just because I was doing that for myself!”

“You took the winnings and put them straight into the store account,” Yuugi countered, smiling despite himself. Thankfully, the affection in his expression only seemed to make Atem hesitate _more_. “That was anything _but_ for you, and even if it was, you’re allowed to do stuff for yourself, _mou hitori no boku_. And I don’t mean just _us_ – you yourself, alone. You spend almost every other day of the year taking care of us, after all… of me.”

“But… I love doing that.” It came out as little more than a whisper, and while Atem’s eyes still _begged_ him, the… _meaning_ of the look had shifted.

And Yuugi couldn’t deny it. He slid his fingers at Atem’s chin along the soft line of his jaw and let them catch along his neck, holding him still as he stepped closer and sought his mouth.

Atem hadn’t had time to exhale before the touch, and Yuugi felt his breath on the underside of his nose before the texture of warm lips stole his complete attention, numbed over his brain and his muscles with a relief Yuugi could only associate with a hot bath… or a nice massage… or a kiss from Atem.

Which was rather redundant, really.

And he felt that same luxurious relief in the way Atem bent into his touch, _leaned_ into him… but only one, unhampered arm came up to catch Yuugi’s waist, and he quickly leaned back to smile at Atem from the distance of two nose widths.

Going by the tight catch between Atem’s eyebrows, that was much, _much_ too wide a space.

“I know… but maybe I love taking care of you, too,” Yuugi argued, grinning wider as he saw the catch of reconsideration in his boyfriend’s eyes.

_Check._

“And getting a chance to help you relax, or to go and do something you want to do, by filling in for you in the shop, or with cooking and stuff… I want that. So, won’t you let me have it? Relax tonight, and sleep in tomorrow? Let me help while you’re healing, or whenever you need a day off?”

Atem opened his mouth to reply… only to shut it again, a flummoxed little tilt to his lips as he remained silent.

But he still hadn’t agreed.

So Yuugi leaned back in, brushed his nose against his until Atem _had_ to meet his eye, and got trapped in his gaze. “Please?”

That tension faded out completely, and a breath brushed over Yuugi’s lips again as Atem sighed.

_Mate._

“Alright,” the king whispered, finally climbing down from his proverbial throne, setting aside his _heavy_ crown, and leaning into Yuugi’s arms as they folded around him. “…Thank you, _aibou_. I know I should be more comfortable with this, but… I… _am_ grateful.”  

“I know,” Yuugi assured, resting his chin on Atem’s shoulder as he felt his boyfriend press close against his chest. “Just, don’t even think about feeling guilty, okay? I plan to get full repayment in cuddles tonight, you hear?”

He could hear the smile in Atem’s voice as he replied, “Then, I can pull you from your homework when it’s time for bed?”

“Don’t you always?”

“ _Hmm_ , usually it doesn’t take much _coaxing_ on my part.”

“Hey, what are you talking about? I’m the perfect model of an obsessed student.”

“Of course you are, _aibou_.”


	9. Fifty-Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A random household scene inspired by some tumblr posts (detailed [here](http://ygospamproduction.tumblr.com/post/178941521643/fifty-five-so-this-by-toadstool32-and-this-by))
> 
> An ex-pharaoh left to his own devices (and the dares of a lifelong rival) is prone to hazardous behavior.

…Why was he still hearing that?

Yuugi paused frowning in the front door, stalling to confirm…  _ yes, _ that was the Super Mario Bros. 3 title theme. Playing from down the hall.

_ Still. _

He shut the door, hanging up his keys as he called,  _ “Mou hitori no boku??” _

A garbled hum of a moan told Yuugi he lived– at the least.

But when he made it to the living room, he discovered a battlefield. Empty water bottles, ramen cups, chips, scattered all over the table, and his  _ partner _ , still sporting his night shirt and sweats, draped lifelessly across the sofa, his face planted square in a seat cushion with a leg and an arm dangling off the side… the controller inches from Atem’s hand.

“…You alright there?”

Another muffled sound, and Atem turned his head, blessing Yuugi with a single eye and a sleepy smile. “I did it.”

“What?” 

“I  _ beeeeat _ it,” Atem sang, rolling hard onto his back, grinning like he’d just won a fifty mile marathon. 

“Well,  _ yeah. _ I guessed you would. You’ve beaten it before.”

“Not like this though! Don’t know by how much, but I  _ did it.” _

“What are you–” Yuugi jumped as a loud  _ BUZZ _ rang through the apartment, the suddenness smacking him and making him think for a split second that the fire alarm was going off.

But Atem merely cringed and reached sloppily towards the table– nearly rolling off of the sofa before he caught himself.

Yuugi followed his intention and found… an  _ egg timer  _ under a chips bag.

He stared at it for a long, considering second… then turned it off. Rubbed his nose hard along the bridge.  _ “Mou hitori no boku?  _ Were you… doing a speed-run?”

_ “Yes.” _ Atem flopped back on the couch, settling himself into the cushions with closed eyes and a satisfied wiggle. “And I  _ did it.” _

“…You were playing this when I left this morning. Before I even woke up.”

“You won’t guess how fast I did it.”

“At  _ seven. _ That was  _ fifteen hours ago.” _

“It was  _ seriously fast~” _

“And I fell asleep on the couch  _ watching _ you play, and I thought I just didn’t remember you joining me, you–” Yuugi rubbed his full face, and turned for the kitchen, the open layout allowing him to fish out a giant sundae cone and toss, “Have you even left this room since yesterday?” over his shoulder at the same time. 

“I showered a few hours ago.” 

Of course.

Now that he thought about it, Yuugi should have expected this. Or, at least something like it. Atem always got restless in the general lull that followed the tournament season, Shogi and Mahjong and Duel Monsters all stacking their world championships one on top of the other until,  _ finally, _ everything calmed down in October– and Yuugi had lined up his own project rush to the tournaments, but he still had a week before the expansion release. And meanwhile, Atem was crawling up the walls, Yuugi gone most of the day, and nothing to challenge him between his shifts in the family shop and his NRO projects.

Nothing, except the limits he pushed  _ himself _ to.

Yuugi stood in the kitchen wolfing down half of his ice cream musing over it, before looking Atem’s way.

He was staring at him, lying on his side again on the sofa, eyes half-shut, but pinned on him. “You still haven’t guessed.”

There was a faint uncertainty there in that look, and Yuugi met it by sighing, coming back to Atem and sitting back down at his head– coaxing him to lay it on his thigh.

Atem adjusted to it eagerly, letting the silence hang as Yuugi combed fingers through his hair and crunched on his cone… before swallowing and answering, “An hour.”

“…How did you–”

“The egg timer maxes out at sixty minutes.”

…Atem snorted, grinning as he looked at the timer. “It must have been closer to fifty-five minutes. I left it going a couple of minutes before you came home.”

“Impressive,” Yuugi admitted, because it was. He’d never timed himself on the game, but Atem must have been pulling off some  _ moves _ to make that kind of time… but he noted Atem was frowning up at him, and belatedly realized how flat he’d actually sounded, shutting his eyes with a shake and a huff. “Sorry. This isn’t you.” He chomped down the last of his ice cream and tossed the wrapper on the table. “Kaiba-kun was being a pain today.” Tell a guy you wouldn’t add a  _ third  _ dragon-themed expansion to your  _ own game…  _ you’d think he’d murdered his brother or something.

Except Mokuba had looked pretty murderous himself by the end of the night.

Hands free, Yuugi reached idly for the controller, but when he straightened up with it, he noticed Atem looking up at him with a particular stillness to his features, eyes glinting. “…Do I need to deal with him,  _ aibou?” _

Yuugi cocked a brow at him. “…In what sense?”

–The subtle warnings in Atem’s face died with a smirk. “Kaiba says he ‘perfected’ his deck since the tournament. Thinks he can beat me now… But we already modified  _ my  _ deck last week.”

_ Ah. _

Yuugi grinned, looking up as he started a new game. “Yeah, kick his ass for me.” –Only to instantly pause when Atem sat up and reached for the table phone. “Not  _ now! _ Mokuba-kun must have pushed him to bed the second we got off that call.”

Atem stopped, but still frowned at him in clear frustration. “I at least want to tell him I beat the times in Mario. He’s the one who made it in one hour and said I couldn’t do it faster.”

Yuugi snorted, looking back to the screen. “Knowing him, he’s already gone and beat it in fifty minutes anyways, just to keep ahead of you.”

“…He wouldn’t dare,” Atem whispered, and when Yuugi looked over, he saw he was focused on the controller in his hands. “If he thinks he can get away with something like that, then I’ll–”

–He dove for the controller, and Yuugi lifted it out of his reach. “It’s  _ my  _ turn?”

His incredulous tone left Atem coming up short, blinking into a slow awareness of himself… and a faint grimace. “Sorry.” He looked so suddenly chagrined that Yuugi could only relax, grin at him before focusing back on the game… leaving Atem to collect his thoughts and change the subject with a faint, “You don’t want something else to eat? Ice cream isn’t enough.”

“I ate while Kaiba-kun gave his eleven-point speech on why we need more dragons. If you’re still full on ramen, I’ll just play a bit, and we can go to bed.” He stopped after the first level, though, and looked at his partner. “You want to go two-player?”

Atem smiled, the frustrations lingering in Yuugi’s head fading away to see the tension visibly seeping out of him. “Sure.” 

Yuugi grinned, reaching under the table for the second controller. “Let’s finish the first world and go to bed.”

“Heh, I can get through that in five minutes now.”

“First two worlds, then. Call it a cool down,” he teased as he got up and passed over the controller, earning a sleepy little grin when he tossed a quick kiss into the hand-off. “Do me a favor, okay?”

“Anything.”

“Look up what the world record is. If you and Kaiba-kun are going for minutes under  _ that, _ it’s time to pick a new challenge.”

Atem gave a sniff of a laugh, but still took the question seriously as Yuugi reset the game. “It is boring to fight him like this, without him even here. I thought, it might be better if we each had one chance, witnessed by the other, and whatever times we get then decide it. Then we can switch games.” 

“I like that,” Yuugi decided. With a sudden death matches, there’d be fewer all-nighter marathons at home. So long as Atem didn’t ‘over-prep’. As he started the game back up – instantly picking Mario, as always – he added, “And if you do it at his place, have it recorded.”

“Why?”

“I was serious about that world record thing.”

“Heh, we’re not doing it for that.”

“Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be honored for it,” Yuugi protested, ending the first level again and taking the beat to smile directly at his partner. “Fifty-five minutes  _ is  _ kind of insane.”

Atem shone a moment under his gaze, and praise, and scooted closer, only taking up his turn when they were settled in, shoulder to shoulder. “How was your day,  _ aibou?” _

Yuugi shrugged, leaning into a warm, welcoming side as he watched Atem play. “It got better.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a particular fondness for showing the disheveled side of domesticity (you're never as unaffected as when you're stressed and around someone you trust enough to react honestly) so this was fun. Plus I missed just getting to show these boys being themselves and together, no plot-frills or lace abut it!
> 
> For anyone waiting on [Reconfiguration](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10498908/chapters/23162544), by the way, I _am_ continuing to work on it. Work has just been a hoot since June, and illness smacked me again, so I've hit a lot of temporary life blocks. And my game plan is to finish the last 10 chapters _before_ I start posting anything again, so while there won't be any updates upcoming soon, the hope is the last part of the story will come out in one smooth block. 
> 
> Hopefully before the end of 2019.
> 
> Fingers crossed.
> 
> And in the meantime, have cuddly gamer husbands in fix-it land.


End file.
